Railroad-crossing evener



R. M. GA DOW.

RAILROAD CROSSING EVENER.

APPLICATION FILED JULYIO, 191-9.

Patented Dec. 2, 1919.

Swvawboz BMW/4190M 6'14 00 W Brennan MAXcanow, or :BIL'LI Nes, MONTANA.

nnfnnoan-onossrne EVENER.

Specification of Letters Patent. I

r Patented Dec.2, 1919.

Application filed July 10, 1919. Serial No. 309,872.

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that I, RICHARD-Mt GADow,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Billings, in the county ofYellowstone and State of -Montana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements'in Railroad- Crossing Eveners, of which the following. is a specificatiom "This invention relates to crossings ways with roads or streetsp' s V The-object of the invention is to provide a simple, cheap and efficient evener to perof railrnit the smooth passage of vehicles across.

a railroad trackrand yet not interfere with the safe passage of a train over the rails.

Another object is to so construct such an evener that it will automatically lower on the passageof a train thereover to permit the engagement of the rails by the flanges of the car'wheels, and'return toraised :op-- erative-rposition after the train has passed.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will appear as the descr ption proceeds, the inventionresides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of'construction hereinafter de-- the invention herein disclosed may be made within the scope of what is claimed zwithout departing from the spirit of the inven-.

tion. V by In the accompanying draw1ngs:-

Figure 1 represents a .side elevation with parts broken out and in section of the evener constituting this invention shown applied,

Fig. 2 is a top plan vicwthereof, I F ig. 3 is a transverse vertical section, Fig, 1 is an enlarged detail plan view of a portion of the evener, Fig. 5 is a vertical transverse section taken. on the line 5' 5 of Fig. 4-,

Fig. 6 is adetail vertical section'taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5, and

constituting this invention comprises auxiliary rail 1 mounted at one side of a railroad rail R between it and the platform P, the latter being spaced from the-rail R a sufiicient distanceto permit the flanges of the car wheels to pass between said platform and the railroad rail a The platform P which is usually placed between the track rails 'R and on the outside-thereof, is positioned flush with the treads of said rails and at one side is spaced from said rails a suflicient distance to permit the passage of the car Wheel flanges. The space so formed is objectionable for many reasons, one being that it makes a ridge which jars vehicles passing" thereover, and another that it becomes filled with dirt, and interferes with the car wheel flanges passing over the rails R. i

To overcome these objections, the evener constituting this invention is designed and operates as a vertically movable filler be tween platform P and rail R as is shown clearly in Fig. 3. This evener comprises an auxiliary rail 1 supported by coiled springs 2 disposed between supporting blocks or posts7 and the rail 1. This rail has a recess 1? in its lower face and telescopically engagesv a solid rail 14 fixed to posts 7', the lower edges 1 of rail 1 being sharpened to cut away ice and hand from rail 14 as it vmoves verticallythereon. Rail 1 1 has vertical opening's lato form housingsfor' the sp'ringsQ. 'The coiled springs 2 encircle bolts 3 which pass throughthe rails '1 and 14 and through the blocks {7-, being secured by means of nuts 8 which slide in apertures 9 in the-posts or blocks 7. These bolts 3 have heads 3 which are guided by the walls of the socket 4 and areretained therein by v fastening means presently to be described.

The apertures" 5 in the rail 1 through which the bolts 3 pass have outwardly flared sidewalls 6 which permit the bolts to movelaterally when the rail 1 is depressed at either end and elevatedat its opposite end, such as occurs when a train passes overthe crossing. These-bolts have threaded engagement with the-sliding blocks or The means shown" for retaining the bolts in the sockets 4; against upward movement,

comprise latch members in the form of bars 11 which arepivotally mounted. at one end in upstanding apertured lugs 12, one of which is arranged at the bottom of each socket 4 at one'side of the aperture5 therein, being spaced from said aperture a suflicient distance to permit the-"head of the bolt to rest on the bottom of the socket over the aperture; I The bar 'll spans the bolt head and is engaged at its; free end with a hook-shaped catch 13 rising from the socket bottom at, a point diametrically opf positeto the apertured lug 12.1; These-latch bars 11 will thus operate to hold the bolts 3 securely engaged with the rail 1 and pre ventthem'from rising when a train pas'ses over and depresses rail 1. To prevent these sockets4 from filling up with-dirt, water or the ;like, they should be closed by suitable vplugs, not shown. 7

To prevent the auxlliary rail 1 from slid-- ing longitudinally, end thrusts 10 9 are mounted at each end thereof and are Ipreferably constructed as shown in Fig. 1, being secured to one of-the railway ties, and having an upstanding abutment 14 positioned in alinement with thera'il-l to take the end thrust thereof 'whentherail is in elevated-position. V

a From the above description it will be obvious that the springs 2 will operate to hold From the the rail 1 raised with its upper face flush with-the tread of rail R and with the-upper.

faces ofgthe platforms P disposed atopposite sides of said rail. When a1 train passes over thecrossing, the flanges of the wheels'will force the auxiliary rail 1 downward against the tension of springs 2, which 7 causes the blocks 8 to movedownward in the slots 9 and after the'train passes over the crossing, the springs willrrestore the" evener 1 tonormal position shown inFigs. 1' and? mentof the-auxiliary rail 1 will operate to vkeep the space between rail R and platform P free of dirt, snow, ice and the like, and thus obviate the necessity of employing help to clean out the grooves which are usually found inthe platforms of railroad crossings at this point.

connection with the accompanying draw-' ings, the advantages of the construction and of the method of operation will be readily apparent to thoseskilled in the art to which I thereof,-I desire to have it understood that the invention Iappertains, and while I have described the principle ofoperation'of the; invention, together with the device which Ii' nowl'consider to be the best embodiment It'willbe obvious that the vertical moveforegoing description, taken in the device shown is merely illustrative and that'such changes'may be made as are within the scope of the claimed invention.

Having 'thus fullyl described my invention, whatI claim as new and desire to se I cure by Letters Patent, is

1. A device of the "class described comprising a vertically movable auxiliary rail, supporting blocks positioned below said guiding the rail in its vertical movement,

and coiled springs encircling said bolts be railgand spaced vertically therefrom, .bolts depending'from said rail,

cooperating means:carried by said bolts and blocks. for

tween thelowerface of said :rail and said blocks; Y r e 1 ,2. Thecombinationwith a track rail; of aplatform with its upper face flush with thetread of said railand spaced at one side from said rail, a .vertically' movable 'aux-.

viliary rail disposed in and, fillingfthe space between said platform andtrackrai1, supportingblocks positioned below said auxiliary rail andzspaced vertically jtherefrom, bolts depending from said auxiliaryrail,co-

operating means carried by said bolts and blocks forguiding the auxiliary'rail in its vertical movement, and coiled springs encircling said bolts between the lower face of saidauxiliary rail and'said'blocks,

3,. l he combination with track rails; of, a platform'arranged between said rails and spaced at its side edges .:from the ralls, a

vertically movable auxiliary rail positioned in each space so formed, said auxiliaryrail having apertures extendingvertically therethrough at longitudinally spaced 'points,,the;

upper portions. of said aperturesbeing en? larged, to form sockets, and: their lower;

portions flared" -outwar.dly,,;bo1ts passing:

through said; apertures with {their 1 "heads; seated at the bottom of said sockets, means spanning said bolt heads to hold them-Lin fixed relation; tothe rail,*-supporting blocks arranged below'and spaced from said auxiliary rail and having *cut-out portions therein, said, "bolts extending into said cut-,

out portions, guide blocks carried. by said,

'115 4. Thecombination;withj track rails; of V having its" under face-recessed, a fixed rail 1 with which sald auxiliary ;rail. telescopes, transversely,- andrsprings supporting said auxiliary rall.

5 5. The combination with atrack rail; of

a platform withlits upper face flush with the tread ofsaid rail and spaced at one side from said rail, a vertically movable auxiliary rail disposed in and filling the space between said platform and track rail, supporting blocks positioned below said auxiliary rail and spaced Vertically therefrom, a rail fixed to the upper faces of said blocks, said auxiliary rail being recessed on its lower face to receive said fixed rail, said 10 rails having registering apertures extending vertically therethrough, bolts extending through said apertures, and coiled springs on said bolts to support said movable rail.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

RICHARD MAX GADOW.

Witnesses:

J. E. Foix, Mrs. F. GADOW. 

